Electroretinogram: a New Human Biomarker for Smoking Cessation Treatment

NCT ID: NCT03213418

Last Updated: 2023-01-05

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: TERMINATED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 11 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2018-02-01
• Study Completion Date: 2022-12-01

Brief Summary

This project aims to develop electroretinogram as a new putative marker for dopamine release, and as a predictor of treatment response among patients seeking treatment for smoking cessation. Tobacco smoking continues to be a major public health challenge. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter released in the brain. Several lines of evidence suggest that dopamine release deficit in the brain is involved in the development and maintenance of nicotine dependence. The investigators hypothesize that smokers who do not have a deficit in dopamine release will more readily respond to behavioral treatment for smoking cessation, and in particular, financial incentives contingent on abstinence (Contingency Management). Previous pilot data suggest electroretinogram (ERG), which records electrical signals from the retina in response to light, is a clinically accessible correlate to dopamine release in the brain. The project proposes an ERG-based biomarker, and a pilot clinical trial to apply this biomarker to personalize smoking cessation treatment. This clinically tractable biomarker of central dopamine release may have a large number of future applications in the diagnosis and treatment of other mental illnesses and substance use disorders.

The study will recruit normal controls and smokers, measure ERG before and after a standard dose of oral immediate release methylphenidate. Smokers will undergo a 12-week standardized treatment course of CM. The investigators will test whether smoking status and the response to CM are correlated to changes in ERG in response to methylphenidate challenge.

Conditions

Smoking Cessation; Tobacco Use; Tobacco Dependence; Tobacco Use Disorder; Tobacco Smoking; Cigarette Smoking; Nicotine Dependence; Nicotine Use Disorder; Smoking; Smoking, Cigarette

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NA
• Intervention Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Primary Study Purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Contingency management

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Contingency management

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Contingency management is an evidence-based psychotherapy program that promotes behavioral change with financial incentives.

Interventions

Contingency management

Contingency management is an evidence-based psychotherapy program that promotes behavioral change with financial incentives.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

1. Be between the ages of 18 to 55 years of age.

2. Have an estimated average daily consumption of greater than 10 cigarettes.

3. Have a Fagerstrom Nicotine Dependence Scale (FTND) >= 5.

4. Is willing to try a method of smoking cessation without using any pharmacologic help for 3 months.

Exclusion Criteria

1. Present with a serious psychiatric illness or substantial suicide or violence risk, as assessed by a licensed clinician involved in the screening phase of the study.

2. Present with any history or current substance use disorder (other than tobacco use disorder), or significant substance use for any substance other than nicotine, alcohol or caffeine, defined as greater than once weekly use.

3. Legally mandated to complete a substance abuse treatment program.

4. Express a desire or intent to obtain additional substance abuse treatment while in the study.

5. Have history of psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions.

6. Have history of using other smoking cessation treatment, either psychotherapeutic or pharmacologic, in the past 2 months.

7. Have history of any chronic medical or ophthalmologic diseases that may affect retinal function (including but not limited to diabetes, age related macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, narrow angle glaucoma, or neurological conditions, such as Parkinson's disease) and that may affect ERG recordings.

8. The use of any prescription or over the counter medication that may affect the retinal dopamine system, including bromocriptine, antipsychotics, or anticholinergics.

9. If female, be currently pregnant, breastfeeding, or lack of effective birth control during 15 days prior to before the ERG.

10. The use of stimulant medications in the past 12 months.

11. Have a known hypersensitivity to stimulant medications

12. Have history of medical condition that contraindicates the use of methylphenidate, including any history of significant cardiovascular disease or abnormal screening EKG.

13. Is unable to understand or consent to study procedure, or is in the opinion of the study clinician to be unlikely to be able to tolerate the study treatment procedure.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 55 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

New York State Psychiatric Institute

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Sean Luo

Research Psychiatrist

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Sean Luo, MD, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

New York State Psychiatric Institute

Locations

NYSPI, STARS Clinic, 3 Columbus Circle, suite 1408, 14th Floor

New York, New York, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

7519

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id